[davidgfreeburn]

HOW DO I REMOVE THE OIL PAN FROM A 1986 CRESSIDA 5M-GE MX73 WITHOUT TAKING THE ENGINE OUT?

I have unbolted the oil pan. jacked the car up. removed the engine mounts and lifted the engine BUT......there still is not enough clearance to getting that oil pan out...AHHHHHHH.................

detailed advise welcome ;-)

dave

ps: if you have a look at the thermostat dilemma post u can see some pics.

 

[kamesama980]

A friend of mine did change the pan by unbolting the mounts and lifting till the transmission hit the floor. it's possible he unbolted the trans crossmember to do so though, I'm not sure. officially though (according to the paperwork) you have to either pull the engine or drop the crossmember.

 

[91Cress]

I am still running my 1991 Cressy w/o having changed any of the seals or gaskets. There has been only a minor leak since cleaning out the pcv (the tube across the top) last June.

But major leak now (have to have pan underneath when I park) after having oil change (coincidence?). Took it back to shop and they said that it appears that the leak is coming from the oil pan, perhaps had silicone sealing it before.

Where I have read, it sounds like a "major" fix in terms of lifting up the engine. I'll go back on Monday and get more info, see if it can be done here (tiny town in middle of nowhere in NoCal). Any idea of the number of hours to get the oil pan out and put in a new seal?

 

[kamesama980]

no idea the hours. one thing they could do at a shop easier than you can at home is unbolt the cross member and lower it enough to get the pan off. the reason I say it's easier at the shop is because they should have a bracket to hold the engine in place from above while removing the crossmember and mounts.

 

[91Cress]

cross member unbolts to get at oil pan?

one thing they could do at a shop easier than you can at home is unbolt the cross member and lower it enough to get the pan off.

Thank you, kamesama980. Another question: This is the 7M-GE, not the 5M series--I am a bit confused here, can the cross member on this be unbolted?

 

[kamesama980]

Thank you, kamesama980. Another question: This is the 7M-GE, not the 5M series--I am a bit confused here, can the cross member on this be unbolted?

close enough as to make no difference for this repair. you need to hold the engine in place from above, unbolt the 4 bolts holding the engine mount to the cross member and then the 4 nuts on the bolts that go through the "frame" in front to hold the cross member to the body. leave the suspension and everything else attached and use a jack to lower the cross member under control and put it back up. there shouldn't be too much variation but if you want to be really careful, mark where it came off so it goes back on in exactly the same place for the alignment.

 

[91Cress]

good news

Thank you again for your help. I had printed it out and planned to show it to the mechanic. But time passed and I did not get a call from him telling me to come and look at it. When I called him, he said that it turned out that the oil plug gasket/washer was really compressed and it was leaking there (it had started leaking after the oil change and I had gone there last week to ask them to check that). He put in a new one and also put silicon around the oil pan where the gasket was sticking out some (trimmed the gasket a bit). Then he put cardboard underneath for several hours and there were just a couple drops.

I hope I don't have any more trouble with that, but the information you gave seemed helpful. A friend just bought a 1985 Cressida w/77K miles, all new wires, belts, tires, just like new, for $1400. I was amazed to walk out of the grocery store and see it there--the old Cressida grill. I told him about this site.

Thank you!!!

 

[kamesama980]

yes, the oil drain plug MUST have a good washer. it's designed with a notch for whatever reason and without a good washer/gasket it'll leak like mad. if the oil pan gasket was squeezing out, the fix is temporary and someone put it on wrong before (overtightened the bolts)